Topical Times – A Yorkshire Bonsai Garden

A regular update on the life and times of John Hanby’s Newstead Bonsai Centre……..

Topical Times – A Yorkshire Bonsai Garden

At last….warm and calm sultry summer evenings, a time for barbecues, for eating outside, birds singing, a warm summer breeze…..a time to relax. Time to enjoy the fruits of your labour, the well-tended(?!!!) garden, your favourite bonsai.

A few weeks ago my garden was badly overgrown. Last year, largely due to circumstances beyond my control it was almost totally neglected. I have been working hard on my days off, weeding, tidying and pruning……I still have plenty to do but I’m getting there.

The purist would say my garden has never seen “a Japanese garden”…. and I suppose I would have to agree. Mine is a bonsai garden….It is home to my trees (two marauding dogs, a cat with attitude, countless fish, and wild birds galore).

There is certainly a Japanese influence in my garden combined with reflections of nature. My sources of inspiration in creating my bonsai are repeated in the creation of my garden and therefore in my eyes the setting for my trees works well.

Apart from one outer border the rest of the garden has been created from a barren lawn during the last 4/5 years. It’s taken so long because I only used to get one day off a week and I had to do it in my spare time. Like I said before, I’m getting there!

Strolling around on this pleasant summer evening, camera in hand, I hope you enjoy a few images from Yorkshire, from a garden, a peaceful pleasant place I hope my bonsai are proud to call home.